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Friday, June 02, 2006

Everyone a federal snitch.

One of the signs that government is out of control is that it encourages people to act as it's agents and keep an eye on everyone else. The object of such campaigns is to make the public accomplices in the controls imposed by politicians. So we have programs in the schools which encourage children to turn their parents into the police if they smoke pot. The kids are told this is to help the parents. The parents get arrested, go to jail, the kids end up in foster care or worse and the drug war scores another victor. All the rest is just collateral damage -- lots of it.

The IRS has long had various programs to encourage people to snitch on their neighbours or friends. Program after program is setting up a web of government informers that will ultimaately make the East German Stasi look like amateurs.

Now there is a program to make web browsers agents of the government. They are to protect America for the dangers of too many low-price dish washers and gardeners. The Right-wing fundamentalist governor of Texas, Rick Perry, has said he intends to string video cameras along the US/Mexican border which will beam pictures to the internet. Then would-be government goons at home can watch the borders and report anytime they see someone trying to come and make a better life or himself and his family.

Perry intends to spend $5 million to establish his Big Brother surveillance system. Those viewing at home will then have a toll free number on the website that they can call to make reports. That will stop dangerous dishwashers, threatening tomato pickers, and the like.

Remember when the conservatives pretended to believe in small government and when turning the public into government snitches would have been anathema. Not today folks. The Republicans are marching to a military tune extolling the virtues of theocratic, big government. Until the Republican Party wakes up and throws these theocratic authoritarians out on their ears America is in trouble.